1. Pearl Harbor Raid 7 December 1941

2. Disputes With Japan ► Beginning in 1940, Japan was allied with Germany & Italy as one of the Axis powers ► By 1940 U.S. relations with Japan were becoming increasingly strained ► Reason: Japan’s invasion of China & territorial ambitions to extend its conquests to Southeast Asia

3. Disputes With Japan ► Hitler’s success in Europe provided an opportunity for Japanese expansion into the Southeast Asia (British Burma, French Indochina) ► Territories held as colonies by European nations now available ► Europe was too busy with Hitler to worry about Japan

4. U.S. Economic Action ► When Japan joined the Axis in September 1940, FDR responded by prohibiting the export of steel and scrap iron to all countries except Britain and nations of the Western Hemisphere ► By 1941, FDR stopped Japanese access to U.S. oil (embargo)

5. Negotiations ► If the U.S. embargo on oil did not end, Japan would be forced to extend its conquests by taking oil resources in the Dutch East Indies ► US wanted Japan pull its troops out of China, which Japan refused to do  Violation of Open Door Policy

6. Negotiations ► Several negotiation attempts were made, but a resolution was not found ► FDR’s military advisers hoped that an armed confrontation with Japan could be delayed until U.S. armed forces in the Pacific were sufficiently strong

7. Why did Japan Attack America? ► Japan was trying to become the dominant power in East Asia and the Pacific ► They had invaded China in 1933 & were preparing to conquer Indochina, Malaysia & the Pacific Islands for access to raw materials ► U.S. had been growing steadily more opposed to the Japanese expansion ► Japan knew if they attacked those other countries the U.S. might go to war to stop them ► Japan decided to attack first ► They hoped they could cripple us so we could not oppose them while they grabbed as much territory as they could

8. Attack on Pearl Harbor ► Carefully-planned & well-executed attack removed the U.S. Navy’s battleship force ► The US Navy was a possible threat to the Japanese Empire’s southward expansion ► The Pacific Fleet of the U.S. Navy was anchored in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

9. Attack at Pearl Harbor ► America was unprepared & considerably weakened ► Attack caused the U.S. to formally enter WWII ► Memory of “sneak attack” fueled a U.S. determination to fight

10. Attack at Pearl Harbor ► On December 7, 1941, while most American sailors were still asleep in their bunks, Japanese planes from aircraft carriers flew over Pearl Harbor and began bombing

11. Attack at Pearl Harbor ► Lasted less than 2 hours ► 2,403 Americans were killed (including over 1,100 when the battleship Arizona sank) ► 68 civilians were killed ► Almost 1,200 were wounded ► Approximately 150 airplanes were destroyed ► 20 warships were sunk